Not Gryffindor, Not Gryffindor
by ellis869
Summary: Following the same timeline as Sorcerers/Philosophers stone, Harry Potter finds out he is a wizard on his 11th birthday and goes to Diagon Alley with Hagrid to get his school equipment. In Madam Malkins our story begins where a certain first meeting goes a little differently and changes the events of Harry's Hogwarts career forever.
1. Chapter 1: Madam Malkins

Not Gryffindor, Not Gryffindor...

That was all of his shopping done, except the school robes. Harry was still slightly shaken by the episode in Ollivanders but he could not wait to try out his new Holly and Phoenix Feather wand.

As Harry made his way into Madam Malkins to get fitted for his new Hogwarts robes, he spotted a pale, blonde haired boy who was already being served. He looked about Harry's age but perhaps a little taller and with a definite look of a child who had been well cared for. Harry was guided to stand next to the boy while he waited his turn.

"Hogwarts?" Asked the boy. His voice was something of a slow drawl.

"Yes, are you?" Asked Harry. He had never spoken to another wizard child before and he was a little bit nervous that he wouldn't have an awful lot to say to him.

"Of course." Said the boy. "Father did consider sending me to Durmstrang. They teach a lot more useful combat spells rather than the defence stuff that old codger Dumbledore has them teaching at Hogwarts, but Mother didn't want me to move so far away."

"Mmmm." said Harry. He had never heard of Durmstrang let alone how far away it was so he didn't really know what else to say.

"I'm sorry, my name's Draco, Draco Malfoy and you are?" The blonde boy, Draco, was now holding his hand out to shake Harry's hand, much to the annoyance of Madam Malkin who was trying to measure from his armpit to his ankle.

"Oh, yes, I'm Harry, Harry Potter. Nice to meet you Draco." Harry held out his hand but Draco seemed to hesitate slightly before taking it. It was only for a second though and Harry assumed this was because Draco was from one of these old wizarding families Hagrid had told him about and would have grown up being taught his name.

"Really? Well of course I know all about you, Harry. I'm going in to my first year too. I hope to be in Slytherin, like my father." Draco raised his head in a proud manner at this. Harry was a little bit shocked that Draco even seemed to know his age. He also had no idea what Slytherin was, some kind of difficult assault course by the sound of it, so again he was a bit lost for what to say. "Which house do you hope to be in?" Draco asked. Now it dawned on him what Slytherin was, but Harry didn't know any other houses.

"Umm Yeah, me too, Slytherin." He said hoping the boy didn't question him further on the subject.

"Really?" questioned Draco. "But I thought you would be..." He stopped mid sentence. "You should write to me, so we can arrange to sit together on the train. I can introduce you to some of the others from our year that I already know, a really good bunch!"

This show of friendship took Harry a little off guard. He had never been allowed by Dudley and his gang to have any friends at school or out of school. Just as he was about to answer however, there was a tap on the window. It was Hagrid and he was waving to Harry while holding up a cage. Inside it was an all white owl and Hagrid's deep voice boomed "Happy Birthday Harry!". Harry's first ever birthday present!

"Perfect!" Said Draco. "Now that you have an owl too it will be easy to write to each other!" Harry looked at Draco and the blonde boy definitely seemed pleased about this. He wasn't sure if it was just because this was the first person his own age to ever want to be his friend but Harry couldn't help but smile at the boy.

"Right, that's you done Mr Malfoy. I'll have your robes sent to your address by tomorrow for you." Said Madam Malkin. "You next my dear." She added smiling at Harry.

"Ok, Harry, remember to write to me. Just put my name on the envelope and your owl will know where to go. See you." Draco Malfoy jumped off his stool and walked out of the door where he met a slim blonde woman. Harry thought the blonde woman must be his mother, they had the same exact hair colour and the same, slightly upturned, nose.

Once Harry was back with the Dursley's, there was a definite difference in his home life. If he wasn't mistaken, Dudley was _scared of him!_ Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia just completely ignored him, which was a marked improvement on their normal treatment. After a week of them ignoring him and once Dudley running from any room Harry walked into started to get a bit boring, however, Harry was spending most of his time in his bedroom with just Hedwig (for this was the name he had chosen for his snowy owl. He had read the name in one of his new text books and liked it) for company. It wasn't until he was sat talking to Hedwig, one particularly boring day, that he remembered Draco's offer of writing to each other to arrange to meet on the train to Hogwarts. Harry got a piece of parchment from his new school supplies and a quill and ink and started to write a letter to his new school colleague. It took him a few attempts to write a letter without leaving ink splodges all over the paper (surely this would be easier with a ball point pen?) but once he had finished he was quite happy with his letter.

 _Dear Draco,_

 _I hope Hedwig gets this to you safely. You mentioned we should write to arrange to meet on the train. If it's OK with you, could we meet in the station as I am not completely sure which way to go?_

 _I hope the rest of your holidays have been fun so far._

 _Yours Sincerely_

 _Harry_

He read the letter several times before he put it in an envelope and addressed it to "Draco Malfoy". He opened Hedwig's cage and started to wonder how he should attach it to her when Hedwig hopped on to his desk and held out her leg. This was her first delivery too and she seemed determined to look professional. Harry couldn't help but laugh at her statue like pose. Once he was done tying his letter to her, Harry looked her in the eyes and said "OK, now it doesn't have an address on it but this is for Draco Malfoy, do you understand?" Hedwig stared back into his eyes and then gave Harry an affectionate nip on the finger before making her way to the window and soaring into the distance. Harry watched her until she was a tiny speck and then laid back down on his bed with "A History of Magic" by Bathilda Bagshot to keep him company. Harry was never too interested in History at his muggle primary school but the wizarding history seemed fascinating. He was reading about a dark wizard named Gellert Grindelwald and how Albus Dumbledore had defeated him in the most legendary duel in wizarding history, when a knock on his bedroom door made him jump and drop the book right off his bed.

"Harry, it's your Uncle Vernon. Is it alright for you to come downstairs and talk to me and your Aunt Petunia quickly?" His voice was different to how Harry had ever heard it. It was a polite tone and it was definitely a request not a demand. Harry was not too sure how he felt about this change of tact from his Uncle but he called back "Yes Uncle Vernon, one minute." He put all of his school things away carefully and then made his way down to the living room.

"Harry, my boy!" said Uncle Vernon as he jumped to his feet upon Harry's entry. "Please, have a seat, would you like a cup of tea? Custard Cream?" If the way his Uncle was speaking to him wasn't strange enough, the smile on his face was making Harry really uncomfortable. But Harry sat down and took the tea and biscuit. He didn't say anything though, just waited for his Uncle to continue.

"Harry, obviously you need to go to Kings Cross Station to get the train to your new school." Uncle Vernon was beating around the bush but Harry knew if he remained silent his Uncle would get to the point eventually. "We also need to go in to London to see about getting Dudley's tail removed. We thought we could take you at the same time, you know, kill two birds with one stone." Again Harry remained silent knowing his Uncle was getting there. "Of course, this operation could be very expensive...and your Aunt Petunia has found, by _accident,_ this bag in your possession." Harry looked up at his Uncle's hand and saw his money bag, the one he had filled at Gringotts with Hagrid. Inside this bag were Galleons and Sickles and Knuts. Of course his Aunt and Uncle had no idea what money this was, they couldn't have, but even they would know a Galleon was a large solid piece of gold.

"That is mine, it was all that was left to me by my parents and if you take it then you will be required to pay for my education." Harry lied easily. Of course his parents had left him a small fortune which was probably more money than his Aunt and Uncle would ever own in their entire lives. This small bag was merely to get him by a couple of terms at Hogwarts for anything he wanted to order like extra potion ingredients. Uncle Vernon's face had turned that impressive tinge of purple it would turn when he was not getting the answer he wanted. It looked like it was about to explode.

"WELL I DON'T CARE POTTER, MY SON HAS A BLOODY PIGS TAIL AND IT'S YOUR FAULT! IF YOU WON'T GIVE ME THIS GOLD THEN I SHALL SIMPLY TAKE IT!" All false niceness was gone. Clearly his Uncle had thought that there may be a lot more where that came from but now he showed his true colours. "AND GOOD LUCK GETTING US TO PAY FOR YOUR EDUCATION! IF YOUR GOOD FOR NOTHING PARENTS HADN'T GOT THEMSELVES BLOWN UP THEY COULD PAY FOR IT THEMSELVES AND OUR DUDLEY WOULDN'T HAVE A TAIL!" He finished.

Harry was losing his temper now. This slight on his parents had hit home. He glared at his Uncle's purple face, and his purple neck and his purple hands, he then noticed his Uncle's purple legs. In fact he was turning completely purple. His piggy eyes were looking worried and he opened his mouth to say something but his tongue had expanded and turned purple too. Harry was scared, he had never made anything like this happen before, and he ran from the room back up to his bedroom. As he got there he heard a knock at the front door. Nobody had answered it but it opened anyway and two men in long robes came running through the door. Harry watched from the landing as they ran straight to the living room with, unmistakeably, wands held aloft. Harry ran back downstairs to see what was going on. As he arrived in the living room his uncle was normal size and colour, asleep on the armchair. His Aunt Petunia was also asleep on the sofa and Dudley was sat next to her asleep with his head rested on her shoulder.

"Wh-Who are y-you?" Harry asked. He felt stupid to have forgotten his own wand, although he had only read about half of his defence text book so he wasn't sure what he could do against these fully trained wizards. They both turned around and Harry knew, somehow, that these men were friend not foe.

"Mr Potter. My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt. I am from the accidental magic department at the ministry of magic. We were alerted to come here to aid you with a spot of accidental under-age magic. We have completely removed your families memories of the incident and when they wake they will not remember anything that has happened." Harry was relieved.

"What about my money? This started because they had found my money bag and wanted it to pay to have my cousins tail removed." Harry wasn't sure if he should mention the tail in case Hagrid got in trouble. But he figured if he didn't say Hagrid gave Dudley the tail they couldn't possibly know.

"Yes Mr Potter, we have removed all traces of the tail from your cousin. Before we wake your family up I will get my colleague here to remove the memory of your gold. I recommend you keep it safe so they don't come across it again." Shacklebolt was smiling and Harry instantly trusted the man with his slow deep voice. It had a calming effect on Harry.

"Thank you, for everything Mr Shacklebolt." Harry sincerely meant this. He had only known of the wizarding world for a couple of weeks but he was very impressed with the ministry employees, not to mention how quickly they arrived without needing to be called. Shacklebolt finished up his spells and left after telling Harry his family would wake up within the next thirty minutes and believe they had fell asleep watching the news. Harry used the time he had to go and hide his wizard gold properly, which he concealed beneath a loose floorboard under his bed until he was ready to leave for school. His only worry was that his Uncle would still be willing to take him to Kings Cross Station, now he had no reason to go to London for Dudley's tail.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2: Malfor Manor

**Chapter 2 – Malfoy Manor**

 **Disclaimer –** These characters and the world they live in belong to JK Rowling.

It had been two days since the incident where Harry turned his Uncle Vernon purple. The ministry wizards had certainly done a good job as his family did not appear to remember a single thing from the event.

Harry was, once again, alone in his room reading one of his new school books when a tap on his bedroom window made him jump. He span around to see his snowy owl Hedwig waiting to come in. He hurried to the window and opened it wide. Hedwig landed gently on his bed with a soft hoot and held out her leg. There was a letter attached to it addressed to "Harry Potter"! Harry untied the letter and got Hedwig one of the owl treats he had bought in Diagon Alley. Hedwig gave his finger an affectionate nip before flapping back to her cage and eating her treat, leaving Harry to sit and stare at his unopened letter. Hedwig gave an encouraging hoot, Harry turned to look at her and said "What if it says he has changed his mind and he doesn't want to meet me at all?" Something which had been on Harry's mind since Hedwig left with his letter two evenings ago.

All in all Harry had the letter unopened on his bed for about an hour, while he found odd jobs he just _had_ to finish before he could _possibly_ sit down to read a letter. But, as his room was already relatively tidy for an eleven year old boy and there were only so many times he could reorganise his school trunk, he decided he may as well get it over with. He opened the envelope, slowly slid the parchment out, unfolded his letter, took a deep breath and read;

 _Dear Harry,_

 _Thanks for writing to me, I wasn't sure if you really would. Your owl is great, I hope you don't mind me using her to write back but my Father is often using our owl to write to the minister for magic._

 _That sounds fine to meet at the station but I asked my Mother and she said if you wanted you can come to us for the last few weeks of the holiday and come with us to Kings Cross? It's fine if you don't want to, I know you don't really know me, but I'm an only child too and it would be great to have you here. Our house is out of the way from Muggles so we can even practice Quidditch in the garden if you wanted. Plus we can go through our new schoolbooks and help each other to start learning them?_

 _Let me know by return if you would like to or not and we will pick you up this Saturday at 6pm. I hope you do, but if not, I will see you at Kings Cross Station on the 1st September._

 _Yours Faithfully_

 _Draco_

Harry read this letter even more times than he read the one he sent. He couldn't believe his eyes. Not only did Draco want to be his friend, but he wanted Harry to go and stay with him and his family for the last few weeks of holiday. He had no idea what Uncle Vernon would say but it would solve the problem of them having to drive him to the station in a few weeks time. "Quidditch?" Harry wondered aloud. Well, he had no idea what that was but he was excited to find out.

Harry casually walked in to the living room downstairs where his Uncle and his Aunt really were watching the news this time. He cleared his throat, but they didn't look at him so he said "Umm, Uncle Vernon." His Uncle grunted in response. "I have been invited to stay with someone from my school for the rest of the holidays. His parents will even take me to the station on September the first so you wouldn't need to. Can I go?" Another grunt in response. "Does that mean I can?" asked Harry. A grunt with a slight nod of the head followed and Harry couldn't help but get excited, as he said "Thank you Uncle Vernon" and ran to his room to reply to Draco and gave him the address.

Three more days passed until Saturday came and Harry had all of his things ready to go. He was excited but he wouldn't truly believe he was going until he was gone. He was so used to people being mean to him, there was a small part of his brain that kept telling him this was all a joke. Why did it have to be 6pm he thought to himself. For Harry had been awake since the crack of dawn and unable to get back to sleep for excitement.

At just after 6pm there was a shout from his Uncle "BOY!". Harry knew this to mean him. He rolled his eyes and walked downstairs to find out what he had done. As he walked into the living room, his relatives were all dressed in their smartest clothes. Some people may have taken this as a sign of respect for their guests who were about to pick Harry up. Harry knew it was because his Uncle wanted them to look impressive and intimidating.

"Well, where are they boy?" Vernon asked. "It's 6:05 and they said 6pm!

Harry had noticed this, did his Uncle think the fact it had gone past 6pm would have escaped him? "I don't know Uncle Vernon." Harry said honestly. "I'm sure they will be here."

"How do your lot get places anyway boy?" His Uncle couldn't bring himself to say wizards.

Before Harry could answer he realised that he didn't know. Hagrid had told him about a flying motorcycle. They used magic with the rowing boat to get away from that rock in the sea. They had taken the underground to get to Diagon Alley. "The normal ways" Harry replied. Just as Harry said it, a car pulled up to the house behind Uncle Vernon's company car. But this car was far more impressive than Uncle Vernon's. They looked out of the front room window to see who this was and the driver got out. He was wearing a uniform and ran to the passenger side rear door to open it. Harry realised this man was an actual hired driver and Draco's family must be rich. Out of the passenger door came a smartly dressed, tall, blonde man who had a cane but definitely didn't look like he needed it to help him to walk. Draco followed him out and he too looked rather smart. Harry was horrified. All of his "muggle clothes" were hand me downs from Dudley. They were ripped, about four sizes too big and the opposite of smart. Uncle Vernon seemed to have came to the same conclusion because as the Malfoys were walking up the drive he said with urgency "Take that jumper off boy, it's disgraceful!"

DING DONG. The doorbell came all too quickly and there was no time to cancel now.

"Get the door, boy!" growled Uncle Vernon.

Harry ran to the door and swung it open. "Good evening, Harry, Lucius Malfoy – a great pleasure to finally meet you." said Mr Malfoy. Draco was stood next to him beaming at Harry. Harry beamed back because people didn't normally smile when they looked at Harry.

"Please, Mr Malfoy, come in." Harry walked the Malfoys to the living room where his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin were waiting. He thought over the next five minutes of dialogue his Uncle held himself together reasonably well. Clearly his dislike for wizards did not stretch to rich wizards. Mr Malfoy sent the driver to collect all of Harry's things for school and Hedwig's cage. She would be flying to Draco's house so she could do some hunting and stretch her wings a bit. Once the driver said he had everything in the car ready to go, they said their goodbyes (Uncle Vernon even playfully ruffled the top of Harry's head) and they were on their way. Harry was getting away from the Dursley's and he wouldn't see them again until next Summer!

Draco's family home was incredibly grand and so big you could have fit two of 4 Privet Drive in the Entrance Hall. They had a house elf named Dobby, a kind of servant elf who cleaned and did anything they wanted, who was so excited to see Harry, he bowed so low to the ground when he first met him that his nose was bent backwards on the stone floor. Harry and Draco laughed at this and Dobby looked a little startled but happy with his effect.

After Draco had shown Harry the room he would be staying in, which dwarfed his bedroom at Privet Drive, they went down for dinner with Mr & Mrs Malfoy. They were both lovely people, very funny and seemed really interested in Harry and how things had been for him living with the Muggles. Mrs Malfoy seemed genuinely upset when he told them he had lived in the cupboard under the stairs until he got his Hogwarts letter. Because he didn't want to upset her more, Harry decided not to tell them about the days of starvation he sometimes suffered, or anything else which he considered worse than his sleeping arrangements.

After dinner Harry and Draco went to explore the gardens and Draco showed Harry his _flying broomstick!_ For some reason the broom shook when Harry passed his hand over it and he really couldn't wait to have a go on it, which Draco said they could do tomorrow. All in all it had been an amazing evening for Harry. He never realised how well wizards would live. Now he understood why his parents had such a large fortune to leave him and he laid in bed that evening imagining their own house and how big it must have been. He was just picturing himself running out to the garden to fly his own broom when he nodded off to sleep.

"What do you think?"

"Seems normal enough."

"Ministry wizards had to attend the house the other night, he lost control and almost blew his uncle up!"

"Easy to do, remember when Draco was six and you told him he couldn't have a pet dragon?"

"Yes Narcissa, but this is not Draco. This is the boy who vanquished our master and a lot of people believe he could be the one to take his place. If we play this correctly, we could be the adopted parents of the most powerful dark wizard ever. The power given to us by being in that position would be beyond anything either of our families have ever known." His eyes were unfocussed, his mind swimming with possibilities.

"Lucius, please, look how happy Draco is to have a friend here. They are both so young, can we not just let them play? She placed a hand, lovingly, on her husbands shoulder.

"I have already briefed Draco while we were in the car to pick the boy up. He knows his role in this. Befriend the boy, protect him at school for as long as he needs it. Once Potter starts to realise his power, Draco will be safe as his best friend." Lucius would not look his wife in the eyes as he spoke these words.

"But Lucius, what if the boy realises his power and decides he doesn't need friends, like the Dark Lord before him? What if he realises our son was placed in his life and not truly there as a friend? Her face showed the worries she described were genuine and her husband felt frustrated.

"Then Draco will have failed and we will all suffer the consequences." Lucius concluded.

TBC...

 **A/N** : This story is feeling great to write so far, but please let me know any thoughts on it. Good or bad...I can take it, honest! I am hoping to follow a lot of the canon events from JKR's first novel although with a difference which will become apparent once we get to Hogwarts. The next chapter should see us in the great hall so it's not too far away!


	3. Chapter 3: Serpensortia

**Chapter 3**

 **Disclaimer –** The characters and world they live in do not belong to me. It makes me sad.

Malfoy Manor, as Harry discovered it was called, was the best house Harry had ever been to. Of course he had only ever been to the Dursley's house, Mrs Figgs house across the street and the reptile house at the zoo. The first morning Harry woke up there, Draco knocked on his bedroom door to tell him it was time for breakfast. The two boys raced each other to the dining room, which really was quite far away from the bedrooms, so they were both panting in earnest when they got there.

"Harry, I heard from Kingsley Shacklebolt that you turned your uncle purple and almost blew him up?" Mr Malfoy was smiling and Draco started to positively roar with laughter at his fathers words.

"Ummm..." Harry was not happy that the Malfoy's knew about this. What if they kicked him out in case he did it to one of them. Clearly his face showed exactly how he felt because Mrs Malfoy put her hand on his forearm.

"Don't worry my dear, and pay no attention to these two. When Draco was young he set Lucius' robes on fire, by accident, because Lucius told him he couldn't have a pet dragon! Harry couldn't help joining in with Draco and Mr Malfoys laughter at this point. His stomach was hurting from laughing so much, especially as Mrs Malfoy told him of a few more stories from when Draco had done accidental magic as a young boy.

As the laughter started to slow down, Mr Malfoy said "So, that's enough about poor Draco. Harry there must have been other times you made things happen?". The whole family looked at him expectantly. Harry tried to think of the funniest thing and his mind landed on one of the most recent events.

"Oh, well, a few months ago we went to the zoo for my cousins birthday and I set a snake on him, I made the glass to it's enclosure disappear so it escaped and it even said thanks as it went past me!" Harry started to laugh at the memory of Dudley's face when this happened, the Malfoys however were staring at him. Perhaps they didn't find it as funny because the snake could have been a danger to the Muggles in the zoo? "Um, I guess that one wasn't funny, because innocent Muggles could have got hurt." Harry backtracked quickly.

"No, my dear boy, that isn't it." Said Lucius, eyes transfixed on Harry. "Please correct me if I'm wrong, but in your story, the snake _said thanks_ as it went past you?

"Yeah, I must have accidentally made it so the snake could talk. Like how I accidentally made the glass disappear?" Harry didn't know what the big deal was. They didn't seem so shocked by him almost blowing up his Uncle, or by Draco setting his father on fire. Big deal if he made a snake talk!

Mr Malfoy took a wand from the end of his cane, raised it above his head, pointed it in the direction of Harry and muttered the word " _Serpensortia_ " a bang followed and on the floor, behind Harry, landed a large snake. Harry looked back at Mr Malfoy in shock. "Say something Harry, to the snake, it won't hurt you I promise."

Harry looked at the snake and said "Hello.". To his great surprise, the snake raised its head to be almost eye level with Harry sat on the seat. It said "Good Morning." Harry whipped his head around to look at Mr Malfoy again who nodded his encouragement and Harry turned back to the snake. "Where are you from?" He asked.

"I don't know." the snake replied.

From behind him he heard Mr Malfoy once again but this time he said " _Vipera Evanesca"_ and the snake completely disappeared. Harry was very impressed with the show of magic but a little confused at how he could talk to this snake as well. He looked back at the Malfoy family and they were all three sat, open mouthed, staring at Harry. Apparently it wasn't just the snake at the zoo he could talk to and by the looks of the faces sat next to him, it wasn't a very common thing for a wizard to do.

"Harry, is that only the second time you have ever spoken to a snake?" asked Mr Malfoy. Harry just nodded. "Please forgive us child. The reason we are in such shock is because being able to talk to snakes is a rare talent. It is a talent boasted by Slazar Slytherin, founder of Slytherin House at Hogwarts. Very few wizards have been able to do it since him and all of those that could, have been proven to descend from his bloodline. What we are saying is, Slytherin is in your great blood and it is an honour my boy to have you stay in our home!" He bowed his head in a courteous way as a show of respect. "You truly will be a great and powerful wizard, Mr Potter."

Harry didn't really know what this meant to him. He descended from a great wizard who was one of the reasons the school he is attending actually exists. That didn't mean that he, Harry, would be a great wizard. Did it? He sat considering this for a moment before Draco snapped him out of it.

"Do you want to practice some spells today Harry? Dad has had a target range made up for me in the garden!"

"I didn't think we were allowed to do magic outside of school? Harry asked

"The ministry can't tell it's under-age magic if there are adult wizards in the house too. They kind of just trust the adults to make sure we don't do anything stupid. The only reason they showed up at your house when you blew your Uncle up was because you are the only wizard there, so they knew it must have been you!"

"OK, sounds great!" Harry had been dying to use his new wand ever since he left Ollivanders. Now he would get the chance to try out some of the spells he had been reading about!

Harry and Draco both went to get washed and dressed. Harry used a shrinking spell on some of his clothes from Dudley and actually got them to fit. He then used a repairing spell he had read about to fix the holes. By the time he had finished he had a jumper and a pair of jeans with no holes, that fitted him almost perfectly. He was extremely pleased that his first few attempts had worked. He decided to disregard the first two jumpers he tried, which now wouldn't fit Dobby the house elf, they were so small. Next he looked in the mirror at his glasses and the crack in one lens where Dudley had thrown a ball at him in the last week of term before Summer. " _Oculus Reparo"_ he murmured, pointing his wand at his own face. To his amazement, the lens was fixed and the piece of tape he had to hold them together on the bridge of his nose, was now useless as the frame was also fixed. Feeling extremely pleased with his handiwork, Harry went to find Draco so they could do more magic.

Once they were out in the garden at Draco's "target range", which turned out to be just some mannequins like they dress in a clothes shop, Draco showed Harry some spells his father had already taught him. Harry tried them and after a few turns he got the hang of them. Mr Malfoy came out saying he was impressed with their efforts and that he would teach them a more complicated spell, "stupefy". To know if they really did it properly they would need to practice on a person or living being. Mr Malfoy called Dobby.

"I-I'm not sure I can use a spell on your house elf, Mr Malfoy. What if it goes wrong?" Harry asked.

"Don't worry about _him_ Harry, it's his job to do things like this for us, it makes him really happy." Mr Malfoy exclaimed. Harry had to admit Dobby looked quite excited to be involved.

It took Harry three attempts to successfully "Stupefy" the elf. The first two tries he missed altogether but then on the third go he hit the elf square in the chest and sent him flying. The elf was unconscious so Mr Malfoy taught Harry a spell to wake him up instantly.

It took Draco about an hour of trying but he didn't give up. Draco's failed attempts were mostly aim issues, then, when he could hit his target, Dobby was only mildly knocked back and did not lose consciousness. Harry did not know why he seemed to pick up the spells so easily but Mr Malfoy said proudly "The blood of the great Salazar Slytherin is pulsing through your young veins, Harry, it is clear for anyone to see!" Harry was a little embarrassed but also extremely proud.

The next few weeks followed a similar pattern until the day came to go to Kings Cross Station. Harry was no longer worried about going to Hogwarts and being behind all the children from wizarding families. He was already outperforming Draco on all of the spells they were learning.

On the way to the station, Draco was reminding Harry of all the wizarding families he did not want to get involved with. "Some" Draco said "Prefer Muggles to magical families.". The "Weasley" family was one Draco particularly wanted Harry to avoid. He said "Red hair, hand me down robes and a vacant expression, you won't be able to miss the Weasley's when you see them!"

In a way Harry felt sorry for these Weasley's because Harry had only been a wizard for a short time and he knew by experience what it feels like to only ever have hand me down clothes. He decided not to question his best friend though. There is no way Draco would tell him to avoid them without a good reason, Harry thought.

At the station Draco and Mr Malfoy showed Harry how to walk through the barrier to platform 9 and ¾ and then Mrs Malfoy walked through with Harry. It was pretty easy apart from the feeling you were going to crash into the barrier. But on the other side, it was _amazing!_ The train, the students, the owls hooting to each other. Harry spotted a family with red hair, there were a lot of them, the little girl who looked a little younger than Harry and Draco, smiled and waved at Harry when he walked past. Draco spotted her, mouthed the name "Weasley" to Harry and pulled him along the platform.

Once they found a compartment to sit in, Mr Malfoy helped them to get their luggage on the train and into the luggage racks. Then the two boys went back to the door to say goodbye. Draco hugged his mother and father and went back to his seat, leaving Harry to say farewell.

"Thank you for everything, Mr and Mrs Malfoy. This really has been the best time of my life, well, that I can remember." He looked down, embarrassed.

"Not at all Harry, perhaps next year you can come to us for more of the Summer, Draco has certainly enjoyed having you around! Now go on, before someone gets your seat." Mr Malfoy winked at him and Harry smiled. He ran back to his seat, with Draco and waited for the train to start the most exciting journey of his life.


	4. Chapter 4: The Sorting

**Chapter 4**

 **A/N:** I would just like to say thank you for the reviews I am getting so far on this. I have a really good plan laid out for how the story is going to go, right through to Deathly Hallows canon. The first three chapters were important for setting up characters and explaining why Harry is hanging around with Draco but the flesh of the story will begin at Hogwarts. Oh look, that's where we will be in this chapter! Please keep the reviews coming and enjoy.

The journey on the Hogwarts express was an eventful one, to say the least. Firstly a little witch came around with a trolley full of sweets. Harry would never have seen them before if he had not been staying with Draco, but his mother and father got him most of these during the course of his stay. So he bought some chocolate frogs, as he was collecting the cards, for himself and a pumpkin pasty each for himself and Draco. Joining them in their compartment was Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. These two were built roughly to the same mould as his cousin, Dudley. They were about as bright too. Harry was just starting to wonder why Draco would hang around with these two when Draco explained, he felt sorry for them and wanted to help them with their studies. This seemed like the kind of thing Draco would do, taking someone under his wing and helping them to learn. After all, this is what he had done with Harry. The only others in their compartment were two girls, Pansy Parkinson, a clever sounding girl with dark hair and blue eyes and Millicent Bullstrode. Millicent rivalled Vince and Greg for size, but she seemed friendly enough. Harry was just happy to be sat with more children his own age, all of whom didn't seem scared or offended by Harry's presence.

About an hour after the train had left, a small girl with bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth, opened the door to their compartment. She looked a little intimidated when she saw the size of some of the others but she spoke confidently. "Have any of you seen a toad? A boy called Neville has lost one." She waited eagerly to see if anyone could help.

Pansy laughed "Who in the world, with even an ounce of dignity, would bring a _toad_ to Hogwarts in this day and age?" The others in the compartment laughed at this. Harry joined in but he really didn't understand the joke. The bushy haired girl looked a bit put out and closed the compartment door, a pang of guilt hit Harry in the stomach, but he didn't let it show in front of his new friends.

The subject turned to Houses at Hogwarts and to Harry's surprise, everyone in his compartment wanted to be in Slytherin, just like Draco. He thought it must be the most popular house. Pansy voiced one of Harry's real concerns "Could you imagine how horrible it would be if one of us got put in a different house! Imagine being chosen for Hufflepuff, or worst _Gryffindor!"_

Draco stepped in with his insight "Well I know exactly where Harry will be going, he is a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself!" he bragged.

"Sure, Draco, _anyone_ can say they are a direct descendant of Slytherin. It's a lot harder to actually prove it nowadays with all the dirty blood flying around." Pansy stated.

Dirty blood? This term didn't sound nice to Harry. What if he had dirty blood?

"Actually Parkinson, Harry can prove it. He is a Parselmouth! Heard him myself, and he set a Boa Constrictor on his Muggle cousin at the zoo." Draco boasted.

"WOW" Said everyone else in the compartment in unison. Harry blushed but felt a little proud at the effect on his classmates.

Just then Harry heard a strange croaking noise under his seat. When he looked to see what it could be, he found a toad. "This must be the toad that girl was looking for, I had better go and find her with it." Said Harry. He picked the toad up and made towards the compartment door.

"Why bother?" Said Draco. "Just give it to me and I'll put it out the window, Harry. The kid that lost it will never know. Why should you go running around after him? You're not a house elf". Harry looked at Draco and felt a bit uncomfortable, after all, if it was his toad he would hope the person who found it would bring it back to him. Draco must have noticed Harry's internal struggle with the situation because he admitted he was pulling Harry's leg "Only kidding Harry, go find little miss buck tooth. We won't eat too many of your chocolate frogs while you're gone." He winked at Harry who smiled and left to go and find the girl, or the boy called Neville.

Harry found the girl, she seemed to be sat alone. He handed her the toad and she said "You're Harry aren't you, Harry Potter." It wasn't a question, the girl knew who he was.

"Umm, yeah, that's right and what's your name?" Harry asked politely.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I've read all about you."

"Really? Well, it was nice to meet you." Harry felt a bit strange talking to someone who had read all about him but he guessed she wouldn't be the only one. He was just going to have to get used to it.

He considered inviting her back to sit with the group but with Harry, Draco, Pansy, Vince, Greg and Millicent already in the compartment it wouldn't have been an easy fit.

As he walked back to his friends, Harry noticed heads were turning to look at him from other compartments along the train. He really wasn't used to this and he didn't like it. Just as he got to his seat, he realised the compartment door was still open slightly and he heard his name mentioned by Pansy.

"What are you doing, hanging around with Potter, Draco? He doesn't really fit in with our crowd, don't you agree?"

"Hey, Parkinson, he happens to be my friend. My father wanted me to get to know him and I have. He's actually alright. You should have seen him when we were practising spells back at my house. He has a lot of potential and I want to keep him around so I won't have you saying anything bad about him, OK?" Draco's rant finished with such authority that no more was said.

Harry felt a little bit awkward going back in after what he had just heard. But at least Draco stuck up for him. What did he mean, though, that his father wanted him to get to know him? Mr Malfoy wasn't even with Draco the day they met in Madam Malkins. It didn't really make sense but Harry couldn't spend the rest of the trip stood in the corridor. He went back in and all of them smiled at him to greet him back in.

"Did you get the toad back to it's owner?" Draco asked as Harry sat back down.

"No, I couldn't find him. So I left the toad with that Hermione Granger girl who came in earlier."

"Granger?" Said Pansy. "I knew she must have been a mudblood." The others laughed, apart from Harry who had no idea what a mudblood was. But he knew it didn't sound very nice.

"Mudblood, what does that mean?" Harry asked. The others looked at him a little incredulously.

"I forget you were raised by Muggles sometimes, Harry." Said Draco "It's a word us wizards and witches use for someone who has no magic in their family before them."

"Yeah, we all use that word for them." Said Pansy. Harry looked around and the rest of them were smiling and nodding at him.

"Oh, OK, but how do you know she is one?" Harry wondered more than anything as they seemed to know as soon as he said the name Granger.

"Well" Said Draco. "There are only a certain amount of pure blood wizarding families left. The half bloods, which means one magical parent and one muggle parent, are pretty much all known. So when we hear a new surname, most of the time it means they are a mudblood. We could be wrong but it's not very often we are, see?" His explanation seemed to make sense. Harry still did not like the sound of the word "mudblood" very much but, if that's what they were called, then it was just another one of those things he would have to get used to, he supposed.

As their journey continued, it began to get dark and Harry was wishing he bought more from the lady with the sweets trolley. He was just considering trying to find her when Pansy suggested everyone got into their Hogwarts robes, as it would be time to get off the train soon. Sure enough the train pulled in less than half an hour later.

Harry heard a familiar voice calling out over the tops of the students heads. "FIRS' YEARS FOLLOW ME PLEASE." It was Hagrid, Harry led the way over to him. Hagrid then led all the new first years to the side of a great lake, lined with little wooden boats. "No more than four students to a boat and no leanin' over the edges!"

Harry, Draco, Pansy and Greg all got into a boat together. "We have to row to the castle?" Harry wondered out loud. The others sniggered at him as the boats began to move on their own towards the distant castle. As they got closer they could see the tall towers and turrets clearer. It sat so perfectly on the night sky, it looked almost like a painting. The hundreds of windows were mostly lit up, judging by the flickering of the light, by candles. The whole effect was intimidating and astonishing all at the same time. Then with a slight bump the boats reached the shore on the other side of the lake. Hagrid led the students up the lawns to the front entrance of the castle. The entrance hallway, like Malfoy Manor, was enormous and very grand. On the left wall there were four large glass containers with the symbols of the four houses, one for each one. They were completely empty and Harry wondered what would go into the containers. Right in front of them was a marble staircase, which looked like it went right up through the castle to the very top. Finally, the wall to the right had two doors, leading to areas unknown. Another adult, a lady met them in the entrance hall. She walked towards the first years with a roll of parchment in her hand.

"First years, welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration, Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor house." Harry didn't realise he would meet someone so important on his first day, as soon as he got to the school. "If you will please follow me, the Great Hall is almost ready for your sorting ceremony. I will call you one by one, you will come to the front and sit on a stool. There I will place the sorting hat on your head and you will be given your house. The house you will be given is like your family during your time here at Hogwarts. You will compete together for the House Cup. Some of you may even get to play for your house Quidditch teams one day. Now, if there are no questions..." There weren't. "Right this way please first years.

Nerves tingling through his body, Harry and the rest of the first years walked through to the Great Hall where there were four long tables and another shorter table at the top where it looked like all of the other teachers were sitting. The ceiling...well there was no ceiling. It looked like the roof of the Great Hall opened up right to the night sky. As they got to the top of the hall, they came to a halt. It was time for the first of the students to be sorted. Harry couldn't even bring himself to listen. All he was thinking was, what if Draco got in to Slytherin and Harry ended up in Hufflepuff, or worst _Gryffindor._ Suddenly Harry heard McGonagall call "Malfoy, Draco" and he came out of his own mind to listen. Sure enough, Draco sat on the stool, the hat barely touched his head before it yelled "SLYTHERIN". The table on the far right applauded loudly and Draco went and sat next to Vince and Greg.

Now Harry was really nervous. He looked over at the other tables. Gryffindor where Hermione was now sat, with a boy called Neville Longbottom. Harry was just thinking how that must be the boy who had lost his toad on the train, when out of nowhere, seemingly he heard "Potter, Harry".

Harry looked up at the top table, then back at Draco, who gave him a thumbs up. The walk to the little stool felt like it took at least an hour. It was like one of those dreams when you need to get somewhere but you never seem to get any closer. Finally, he did sit on the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the old ragged, wizards hat on his head. He waited, but then he heard a voice in his ear.

"Hmm, interesting, _very interesting._ Lots of talent, yes and a nice thirst to prove yourself. There's bravery. Not a bad brain either. But where to put you?"

"Not _Gryffindor,_ Not _Gryffindor..._ " Harry thought in his head desperately.

"Not Gryffindor eh? I was torn between Gryffindor and Slytherin. You could be great you know and there's no doubt Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness. But that is a completely different path for you, with different challenges."

"Not _Gryffindor"_ Harry repeated in his head again.

"OK, if you're sure, better be SLYTHERIN!" The final word stating which house he was in was shouted out loud. Cheers from the table on the right erupted. Harry, smiling from ear to ear looked around Hagrid, who for some reason was not smiling back. He looked along the line of teachers. Professor Dumbledore had a slightly concerned look on his face. The most shocked of all, however, was a Professor with dark shoulder length hair, curtaining his face who looked dumbstruck. Harry walked to his table with Draco and the others, but couldn't help but feel like he just made a choice he wasn't supposed to make.


	5. Chapter 5: The Worst First Day

**Chapter 5**

 **Disclaimer:** The characters and places in this story are not my own unfortunately.

As Harry sat watching the remaining students get sorted into their houses, he could not get the face of the dark haired professor out of his head. Why did he looked so shocked? He knew he should be happy that he was in the same house as Draco and the others, but there was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He barely even listened when Professor Dumbledore spoke to the students at large. He heard something about not being allowed to go into the dark forest. He was also quite sure the headmaster had mentioned a painful death to all who go somewhere in the castle, but he didn't really hear where and he made a mental note to ask Draco later.

Harry was just thinking about how long ago his pumpkin pasty was, when the table in front of him filled itself with the most amazing assortment of food. This was the start of year feast and Harry could see all of his favourite foods. One of the Slytherin prefects, who was sat across the table from Harry, introduced himself. "Hi Potter, my name is Marcus Flint, nice to meet you at last. Really happy we got you in Slytherin, I was sure you would be going to the Gryffindorks." he laughed at his own cleverness.

"Oh, hi, nice to meet you too." Said Harry "Why did you think I would be going there though?" he asked.

"Well, it's well known your Mum and Dad were both in that house. You were born in Godrics Hollow, which is Gryffindor's birth place. Things like that, you know." Flint reeled off these facts so easily, it really was quite disconcerting that other people knew more about Harry than Harry did.

"My Mum and Dad were in Gryffindor?" Harry asked. He wondered why nobody else had mentioned this to him. Hagrid didn't even tell him when they went to Diagon Alley together. But then Hagrid may not have known, he reasoned.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, the remaining food disappeared and the plates and cutlery they had been using were replaced with clean counterparts. Professor Dumbledore stood up and the Great Hall fell silent to listen to the silver haired headmaster. "I hope you have all enjoyed the start of term feast. Now, off to bed, pip pip."

Flint got up and started to direct the Slytherin's into orderly lines. Once they were organised they followed him out of the Great Hall and through one of the doors on the other side of the entrance hall, which led them down to the dungeons. The Slytherin common room was spacious, it had different seats and tables. On one side was a roaring fire with a stone surround. It looked ancient, but not old fashioned at the same time. Next to the fireplace there were two, three seater sofas which looked, by far, like the most comfortable place to sit. There was a green hue to the light in the room, which seemed to be because the common room was actually situated under the Black Lake.

Flint took the first years to two doors towards the back of the common room. "Boys, you are in the door to the right and the first year dormitory is the last door on your right at the end of the corridor. Girls, the left door and again, first year dormitory is at the end of that corridor but on the left side. Everybody got that?". They all nodded their understanding. "Good. One final thing, I won't accept anyone out of bed after hours. Anyone who gets caught out of bed will be sent straight to Professor Snape and trust me, you are much better off with me telling you off, than him." He ended with a finality that told them his speech was over. Harry didn't mind having to go to bed right away. It had been a long day and, with a full stomach, he was already feeling incredibly sleepy. Harry was joined in the first year boys' dormitory by Draco, Vince, Greg and someone he had not met until this point called Blaise Zabini. As they were getting ready to go to sleep, Zabini was telling them how his mother was a famous witch.

"Yeah, famous for being beautiful and having husbands who have all died suspiciously, leaving your mother with large sums of money each time, Zabini." Draco taunted with a sly grin on his face.

"Shut it Draco before I shut it for you!" Zabini bit back.

The other boys laughed as they got in to bed. Harry was so excited about his first proper day of lessons the next day, that he didn't think he would get to sleep for a while. Until his head hit the extremely comfortable pillow and he was asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, at breakfast, the Slytherin's had their timetables handed out to them by Professor Snape. Harry had not met him properly yet but he wanted to make a good impression. After all, Professor Snape _is_ the head of Slytherin House. Unfortunately for Harry, it was obvious almost immediately that, his head of house did not seem interested in him whatsoever. As he went along the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, he made an effort to speak to all of his new students. When he got to Draco he had a positively lengthy conversation about Mr  & Mrs Malfoy and how much he was looking forward to his first day. When he had finished speaking to Draco, who was sat directly next to Harry, he passed Harry's timetable to Draco and asked him if he could pass it on. Harry was just about to ask his friend why Snape would ignore him like that, when his thought process was rudely interrupted by about fifty owls flying into the Great Hall. They were bringing the morning post to the students and teachers. Of course, there was no sign of Hedwig, nobody was going to write to Harry. Draco's Eagle Owl brought him a large package, from his parents, full of his favourite sweets and a copy of the wizards newspaper "The Daily Prophet". The wizarding newspaper was not like the muggle newspapers. For a start, all of the articles were much more interesting. Even more interesting was the fact that all of the pictures moved. Harry saw on the front page the headline "GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST" along with a picture of some of the goblins who were talking animatedly outside the empty vault.

"Could I read this please, Draco?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, of course." Draco handed the paper over. Harry opened the paper to read the article about Gringotts.

 _...the break-in, which happened on the afternoon of the 31st July 1991, was only aimed at one vault. The vault in question (713) had actually been emptied earlier that same day and so the thief was not successful. More worrying perhaps is the fact that someone was ABLE to break in to Gringotts, we asked the Chief Goblin for an insight to the incident;_

" _The vault had been emptied that same day and so had minimum security."_

 _We then asked if he could tell us what was inside the vault to find out what the thief was after;_

" _That's none of your business. We have a privacy policy at Gringotts so keep your big nose out!"_

 _We will bring you more on this as soon as we have it..._

Harry pointed out the story to Draco; "Look, Draco, this is the same vault Hagrid and I visited the day in Diagon Alley when I first met you and someone tried to steal from it that day!"

"Really? What did you take out of there?" Draco asked.

"I don't know. I tried to see but all that was in there was a small package. Hagrid said there was no place safer in the world than Gringotts, except maybe Hogwarts. I wonder if Professor Dumbledore knew someone might try to break in?" Harry was more thinking out loud than talking to Draco. Which was good because Draco stopped listening as soon as Harry said he didn't see what the package was, but Harry didn't even realise.

"Come on, we have charms first thing." Draco exclaimed. They finished their toast and pumpkin juice and left to go to their first ever class at Hogwarts.

Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was an extremely old wizard. He was also extremely small and stood on a pile of books to look over his desk and call the register. When he got to Harry's name, he let out an excited squeak and fell off the books, hitting the floor but he said he was OK. Their first ever lesson was to learn the _Wingardium Leviosa_ spell and make feathers float. Luckily, Harry and Draco had learned this spell at the end of the Summer. They were using the spell to make small stones float up to Draco's parents' bedroom window and tap on the glass so they would think there was someone knocking. It was really good fun until Mr Malfoy realised what they were doing and took their wands away for a whole day. So while all of their classmates were practising the "swish and flick" motion required for the spell, Harry and Draco were making their feathers fly around the room, to the delight of Professor Flitwick. They earned ten points each for Slytherin house for their expert use of the spell.

The rest of their day was taken up by a double period of History of Magic. When Harry had read through his text book at home, he had found the subject highly interesting. In class, however, it was hard to stay awake, let alone listen and take notes. The main reason for this was the teacher, Professor Binns, who was actually a _ghost!_ The rumour around the school was that, years ago, he had fallen asleep in the staff room and died in his sleep. Then, when it was time for him to teach his next class, he got up to and left his body behind. In fact, the most interesting thing that happened in his lesson, was when he entered and left the classroom through the blackboard.

After the second period of History of Magic finished, the young Slytherin's all headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. If Harry hadn't recently spent just under three weeks at the Malfoy's house, he would have found it difficult to even manage three meals a day. At Privet Drive he was lucky to get one full meal. Usually he got to eat leftovers and, when Dudley and Uncle Vernon are the ones eating, leftovers were pretty hard to come by. So, once Harry had eaten his steak and kidney pie, he was fit to burst. The first year Slytherin's were already becoming close. None of them went back to their common room until they were all finished eating, so they could walk back together. One of the things Harry had really been missing in his life, was the feeling that he really belonged somewhere. He couldn't help but smile as Draco and Zabini made fun of Greg for setting his feather on fire in Charms earlier. Or when Pansy did her impression of Flitwick falling off his pile of books when he said Harry's name. Harry, himself, made the whole group laugh by doing his impression of Draco when Professor Binns first floated in to History of Magic through the blackboard. Everything felt right and he had only been at Hogwarts for one day.

Unfortunately, as they entered the common room, with a plan to get started on their homework, things took a turn for the worst. A fourth year Slytherin boy, Sebastien Dolohov, approached Harry. "I wanted to introduce myself last night, but Flint sent you straight to the dorms when we got down here." He explained.

"Well it's nice to meet you." Said Harry sincerely.

"I've waited years to meet you, Harry. So, what do you remember about the dark lord?" Dolohov asked. Before Harry could say anything other than a few spluttered words Dolohov continued "Because I really don't understand, how a child, barely more than a year old could defeat the greatest wizard in history?" He definitely wasn't here to make friendly conversation.

"Hey, Seb, leave him alone will you. He's a Slytherin just like us now." Said one of Dolohov's friends who Harry didn't know.

"Leave _him_? Because of this child, my father has been in Azkaban prison since I was five years old!" he spat.

"If your father was involved with Voldemort, then he deserves every second he gets in prison! Because of people like your father and his buddy Voldemort, I have had _no_ parents at all since I was one year old!" Harry was letting his temper get the better of him. He knew they would flinch at hearing Voldemort's name, he had learnt that much from speaking to Hagrid about it back in Diagon Alley and because he was so angry, he relished the effect it had.

"You dare speak the Dark Lord's name?" snarled Dolohov

"You said it yourself. I destroyed Voldemort at the age of one. Why should I be scared to say his name? I will make sure I get revenge on anyone who was involved with him all those years ago. You should be happy your father is in prison, Dolohov, it's the safest place for him now that I'm back in the wizarding world!" Harry didn't know where this was coming from himself. He sounded really brave but Dolohov was a lot older than Harry and a lot bigger. He had a lot more training at Hogwarts to his name too. It happened before Harry really knew what was happening. He turned to walk away and as he turned he saw the wand being raised in the corner of his eye and reached for his own.

"Impedimenta"

" _Protego – STUPEFY"_

He didn't know what had really happened. Dolohov had tried to use a spell Harry did not know on him. Seemingly instinctively Harry blocked the spell and sent off his own _Stupefy._ It wasn't good though. His friends were staring, open mouthed, at Harry. Draco looked highly impressed, the others just speechless. Almost all of the Slytherin students must have been in the room at that time. Dolohov was in a bad way. The jet of red light from Harry's spell had hit him right in the face, knocked him off his feet and sent him about eight feet back where he went through one of the common room tables. Because of the effects of the spell, Dolohov would have been unconscious before he hit the table and probably didn't feel anything. Nobody else was moving so Harry pointed his wand at Dolohov again...His friend who told him to leave Harry alone earlier, moved in front of his body "Please, Potter, don't hurt him any more." he pleaded.

Harry gritted his teeth at this. Did this boy think that he, Harry, was a bully? He was protecting himself. Yes his spell was a little more powerful than he expected, but it was still used in self defence. "Get out of the way, I'm not going to hurt him, I promise." Dolohov's friend moved aside.

" _Rennervate"_

Dolohov slowly woke up. As he stood up from the mess that was previously a table, he didn't seem to know what had actually happened. It obviously dawned on him that he had tried to fight Harry and came off worst because he suddenly looked at Harry with a mixture of fear and anger on his face. "You're not right in the head, Potter!". Dolohov stumbled his way to the boys dormitories, clearly still slightly feeling the effects of the stunning spell he just took to his face. Harry turned to his friends who, he was surprised to see, still had not moved a muscle.

"Harry, that was amazing! But I don't think you should have put that much of your power into your spell!" Said Draco, although he was smiling as he said it.

"I really didn't intend to use that spell, let alone put that much power into it!" Harry replied defensively. Unfortunately there was not much time to discuss what had happened with his friends. The door to the boys dormitories opened again, Flint came through the doorway.

"Potter, come with me, to Professor Snape..."

TBC...


	6. Chapter 6: The Potions Master

**Chapter 6**

 **A/N:** I really appreciate all of the support I am getting on this story. I never thought, when I sat down to write my plan for it, that anyone would actually read it! Your reviews are really helpful in making sure I am providing a good, detailed story for you all.

 **Disclaimer:** None of this belongs to me. I wish it did.

 **Last time:** _"I really didn't intend to use that spell, let alone put that much power into it!" Harry replied defensively. Unfortunately there was not much time to discuss what had happened with his friends. The door to the boys dormitories opened again, Flint came through the doorway._

" _Potter, come with me, to Professor Snape..."_

So Harry followed Flint. He didn't say a word. He was getting expelled after one day. After finding out that there were people who liked him and he did belong somewhere.

"I have to say, Potter, I'm quite impressed." Said Flint "When I found out we got you in Slytherin, I expected you to be a sheep in wolves clothing. But from what Dolohov told me about what happened, you have some power in you." He smiled at Harry who had a sudden feeling of hope, was he going to be let off, just for displaying a good bit of magic?

"Of course, impressing me isn't going to stop Professor Snape from kicking you out." Flint finished.

All the hope he felt moments ago faded. "Right, here we are. Knock twice and when he calls you in, be polite and apologetic. Professor Snape hates nothing more than arrogance." Flint left Harry stood alone in the dark, stone corridor. He wondered if he could get away with just running now, without having to face Snape. He could never do it though, he was not a coward. On the rare occasions that Dudley's gang picked on one of the other small children in their neighbourhood, Harry would stick up for them, knowing it would mean a pummelling for him instead.

He knocked twice. "Enter." Came Professor Snape's voice. Shaking in his trainers, Harry pushed the heavy wooden door open. As he walked in he saw Professor Snape sat at his desk. Shelves covered every wall around the room. On them were jars of what Harry could only assume were various potion ingredients. None of them were in Harry's first year ingredients list. These must be for the more advanced potions they teach later on in the school. "Close your mouth when you look at me Potter." Snapped Snape. Harry swiftly pressed his lips together tightly and actually looked at his head of house properly for the first time. Snape was not an old man, he looked like he would be in his early thirties. His curtain of jet black hair framed his face and, if Harry was honest, looked like it could use a good wash. His hooked nose protruded dominantly from his face. He wore all black robes. The effect made him look incredibly bat-like. "So, Potter, you have come to Hogwarts at last." Snape exclaimed. "The day we have all been waiting for, since your birth, has finally arrived. The great and brilliant and powerful Harry Potter, arrives at Hogwarts to take his rightful place among the legends of our history." He smiled at Harry. Or, at least, Harry thought it was a smile. There were definitely teeth showing and the corners of his lips were turned upwards. "You can imagine how I felt, when I heard that a fourth year had fought with a first year student. Especially when I was told it was someone of your esteemed legend. What do you have to say on the subject?" Snape asked.

"Well, sir, I really didn't want to fight with anyone. I'm sorry." Harry said sincerely. This seemed to throw Snape off a little. It was like he was expecting Harry to brag and boast about the fight.

"As soon as I heard that you were involved, I knew." Snape probed vaguely.

"Sorry sir, knew what?" Harry asked.

"Knew that despite the fact you were only subjected to your father's arrogance for little over a year, you had inherited that particular trait." Harry's stomach lurched. His concerns that Snape did not want to speak to him at breakfast did not seem unwarranted. But the taunt about his father fired something up inside of him.

"What were you told about this fight, sir?" Harry asked. "Because by the sounds of it, you have been sold a pack of lies."

"How dare you, Potter? Snape fumed. "To tell me that several members of my fourth year students have lied to me? Students, who I have built trust with over the last three years, but now you expect me to believe you over them?" The injustice of it pained Harry. To believe Dolohov and his friends purely because they had been here longer! Did that mean that anyone older than Harry could do what they want and get away with it?

"If you are at all interested in the truth, Professor, Dolohov started on me because I am the reason Voldemort disappeared. Because I am the reason his good for nothing father has been in prison since he was a child. I even turned to walk away from him and he tried to curse me with my back turned. The fact that I reacted in time to block his spell and knock him out with my own spell, is not my fault." Harry's rant ended and Snape looked a little ruffled. Clearly he had not been given this version of events. Harry was breathing heavily as he tried to hold back the anger from his voice.

"Well, Potter, this information is indeed different to the version of events I was given. I will need to speak to more of the eye witnesses to try and build a better understanding..." Snape began, but Harry cut him off.

"Build a better understanding? You sound exactly like my teachers at my old muggle school. When I turned up to school with a black eye and I told them the truth about what happened. But they spoke to my Aunt and Uncle, rather than believe me and they took their story over mine. I would have thought, being magic, there would be a way to figure out if someone was lying?" Harry asked. He didn't mean to sound so aggressive and suddenly realised that Snape was not appreciating his tone by the look on his face.

"There is...a way...I can find out for good. If what you are saying is true, I would certainly see reason to punish Mr. Dolohov instead of you." He looked at Harry a little differently. Maybe he realised that Harry couldn't know about Dolohov's father unless at least some of what he had said was true.

"Whatever it is, I want you to do it. If he gets away with this, I will be bullied for the rest of the year and maybe longer. Trust me, I know all about getting bullied." Harry finished. Again, Snape was looking at him with an almost curious expression.

"Very well Potter. If you want me to do this and you are giving me permission to find out the truth, then look at me, directly into my eyes." Harry did it, what was this look on Snape's face? As he looked into Harry's green eyes, Harry saw pain flash across the black eyes of Snape. "Ready Potter?" Harry nodded.

" _Legilimens"_

Suddenly, the scene in the common room popped into Harry's mind. He watched it back and he knew that Snape could see it too, with the spell he had just used. As Harry woke Dolohov up, the scene changed. In fact there was no, one memory in Harry's mind. Rather, a series of memories were flashing through his mind. Snape was _looking for something_. Harry had nothing to hide, but he did not like the idea of Snape searching through all of his memories. He had already seen Harry getting bullied by Uncle Vernon and then by Dudley. A memory then came forward of when Dudley's friends were holding Harry's arms whilst Dudley hit Harry in the stomach and Harry shouted "NO" out loud. He felt Snape's presence get forced from his mind and suddenly he was on the floor, out of breath and Snape was back on his seat holding his chest.

"What did you do? Why were you looking at other things?" Harry panted, outraged.

"You knew...well, Potter, it seems that your version of events checks out. You can go." Snape finished in a business like tone.

"But you were looking through my memories, at other things!" Harry said.

"Enough Potter, I have said you can go. If you are determined to earn yourself detention then I assure you, I will be only too happy to oblige."

Harry glared at his head of house. Snape was up to something but he did not want detention on his first day. So Harry got up and left without another word. As he got back to the common room, he walked over to his friends to sit down. They sat a little straighter as he joined them, clearly they were waiting to find out what had happened with Snape.

After what felt like a long silence, Draco said "So...how did it go with Professor Snape?". Harry was just about to answer him when the door to the common room opened again. It was Professor Snape. He looked furious. Every student stopped what they were doing and silence fell in the common room.

"Flint, bring me Dolohov." Flint stood, staring at Snape. "Now Flint, do I look like I have all night?" Flint turned on his heel and almost ran to get Dolohov from the boys dormitories. A few moments later, Flint returned with the twisted faced fourth year following him. Dolohov glared at Harry as he walked past him, but he followed Snape out of the common room without saying anything to anyone.

Pansy walked over and sat next to Harry "Harry, what happened with Snape? Are you in trouble?" She looked genuinely concerned. The only problem is that Harry did not want to get in trouble for telling everyone what had happened with Snape. What if he told his friends and someone overheard him, then it got twisted. By the time it got back to Snape it would probably sound like he was bragging about getting away with fighting in the common room.

"I-It was nothing, Pansy. I told Snape the truth and he...and he believed me." He lied, but he knew she didn't believe that there was nothing more to it. He had always been bad at lying.

Harry spent the rest of the evening thinking about what had happened with Snape. The man clearly didn't like him. He obviously did not think very highly of Harry's father. Yet, once he knew the truth he had been fair to Harry and not given him detention. Then there was the way that Snape had read his mind, or rather, watched his memories. Why was he looking at memories of Harry getting beaten up? Was that what he wanted to see or was he looking for something else. Harry had seemed to force him out of his mind before he had finished what he was doing. It did seem like Snape was a bit shocked when that happened too. It was all a bit much to handle for his first day at Hogwarts. He decided he was going to give it all up as a bad day and head to bed. As he stood up to go, the door to the common room open and Dolohov walked in. Harry turned towards the dormitories, took two steps and then...

"Potter, wait there." It was Dolohov. Harry didn't stop moving.

"Look Dolohov, I just want to go to bed, it's been a long day. Harry replied as he reached the door to the boys dormitories.

"Can I have a word first, in private...please?" His use of the word "please" shocked Harry so much, he actually followed him back out of the common room and into the stone corridor. Once they were out there, Dolohov turned to face Harry. He really was much bigger than him. Harry couldn't help but think how stupid he was to lose his temper with someone who could probably tear him in half with ease. Harry waited for Dolohov to speak first as he didn't partiularly have anything he wanted to say to the fourth year.

"I just wanted to say...sorry, Harry. Not because Snape has told me off. Not because I have a week of detentions. Because I shouldn't take it out on you, that my father is in Azkaban." He called Harry by his first name and Harry didn't miss that.

"Look, forget it, it's done now isn't it." Said Harry

"Harry, I mean it. Professor Snape has told me things. Things about my father that I have never been told before. I was wrong to idolise him the way I have my whole life and I was wrong to blame you. It's like Professor Snape said, you were a baby, it's not your fault someone tried to kill you and I shouldn't blame you for not dying." Harry was shocked. "You're the real deal, Harry."

Harry almost laughed, he was so relieved that Dolohov's apology seemed sincere. "Thanks, maybe we can be friends, _Seb_?" he asked. "Should we go back in?"

"Sure thing" said Dolohov. As they walked back into the common room he continued their conversation "You know, ever since you destroyed the Dark Lord as a baby, my family and their associates have all said you would be a powerful wizard when you grew up."

"Well, I don't know about that. It's only my first day!" Harry laughed.

"I guess they were right. You are the one who will take his place!" Dolohov exclaimed.

"Take who's place?" Harry questioned.

"Not _who_ Harry. _You Know Who."_

Harry stopped in his tracks. Dolohov didn't even notice, he had spotted his friends and went to tell them about his punishment from Snape. What did that even mean, take his place? Harry didn't speak to anyone. He walked straight to bed and he couldn't help thinking...his first day of learning magic at Hogwarts, has left him with a lot more questions, than answers.

TBC...


	7. Chapter 7: The Remembrall

**Chapter 7**

 **A/N:** I apologise for the long lay off. The holiday's have been really busy for me with a lot of travelling around seeing family. But, you all don't want to be reading my holiday story, so let's get back to this one!

 **Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me :(**

Harry awoke having had a horrible dream. He'd had the same dream before, or at least similar. There used to be a flash of vivid green light, followed sometimes by a ride on a flying motorcycle. Harry used to like this dream. Now, though, it had changed. It started with a woman screaming. Then, the flash of green light as usual but this was now followed by a high pitched cackle of a laugh. There was no glorious ride on the flying motorcycle because Harry shot up in his bed, wide awake, at the sound of the horrible laugh. He was worried that his scar seemed to be _burning_. Harry knew there was no chance he could sleep after all of that so he got up and out of bed. Glancing over at Draco's bed he saw on his alarm clock, in the shape of a golden ball with silver wings, that it was only just after five in the morning. Not knowing if he would get in trouble for being up so early, Harry decided to go and see Hedwig. She would have post to bring him, like the other owls, so if he didn't go to her he likely wouldn't see her all year.

A little unsurprisingly, given the time, Harry did not meet a single person all the way to the door to the grounds. As he walked towards the Owlery he thought he heard something behind him. He was looking over his shoulder as he walked on when he suddenly bumped into something and found himself sat on the floor, looking up at a dark figure. Some eleven year old children may have screamed, Harry merely pulled his wand from his sleeve and muttered " _Lumos_ ".

The holly and phoenix feather wand lit a light so bright, he now couldn't see what was facing him due to the little lights popping in front of his eyes. He was just starting to adjust when the thing in front of him spoke.

"Mr Potter. An interesting time for a stroll, don't you think?"

Harry's stomach dropped. It was Professor Snape. "N-no sir, I-I couldn't sleep so I thought I would visit my owl. I don't have anyone to write to, so I thought she might appreciate it." He sounded a lot less terrified than he thought he would. Snape looked at him with a blank expression.

"Even so, Mr Potter, it is not acceptable for any student to be wandering around the castle at this time. If I catch you anywhere except the Slytherin common room or your dormitory again I will have no choice but to give you detention. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Harry replied. The rules at Hogwarts were strict, but Harry had lived with stricter.

"Now, if you would like to visit your owl, I suggest we are quick about it." Snape finished.

"W-we sir?" Harry asked.

"Yes Mr Potter, we." Snape answered. So, Harry had no choice but to march in step with his head of house. They did not say a word to each other on the way up to the Owlery. Once they were there, Harry called Hedwig down to him and stroked her for a bit. He had wanted to tell her all about his first day and even his dream, she was a very good listener. As he didn't really feel like sharing this with Professor Snape, however, he gave her the owl treats he had brought and let her go back to her perch, high at the top of the tower. He turned, nodded at Professor Snape to signal that he was ready to leave and they started making their way back through the grounds. The sky was considerably lighter now. Harry wondered if they might walk in silence all the way back to the common room, but just as he thought this, Professor Snape spoke.

"So, Potter, why were you unable to sleep?" he asked.

"Oh, it was...nothing Professor." Harry said.

"Come now Mr Potter, as Slytherin head of house it is my duty to ensure the well-being of my students." Snape seemed to know more than he was letting on.

"I just had a bad dream sir, I am sure I will sleep just fine tonight." Harry said, a little more confidently than he really felt about the subject. Snape gave him a curt nod. He didn't seem to be done with his interrogation on the issue.

"Well, next time you have a bad dream I insist you either come to speak to me directly, or perhaps you could put it in a note and send it with your owl?" Snape prompted.

"OK sir, I will." Harry was certain he would never actually do this but he did not want Snape to pursue the subject any further. He didn't really know why, either. He just knew that he wanted to keep his dream...private. There was a small part of Harry that wanted to have the dream again and he did not want Professor Snape to give him any potions which may stop it.

Snape walked him all the way back to the common room entrance. "See you at breakfast Potter." He said by way of a parting message. Harry sat on the chair closest to the fire where the older students seemed to have first choice when they were awake. He considered his dream and the events that followed. The more he thought about it, his anger at Snape's nosiness crept up on him. Why should Harry tell him about his dreams?

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After their second day of lessons at Hogwarts, all of the Slytherin first years were feeling pretty tired. Harry, who had been up a good two hours earlier than his classmates, was feeling particularly sluggish. As he finished his dinner he decided to head back to the common room to do his homework and get an early night but, on his way out of the Great Hall, he noticed Draco was stood face to face with Ron Weasley from Gryffindor. Either side of Draco were Vince and Greg and stood behind Weasley was the boy who had lost his toad on the Hogwarts Express, Neville Longbottom. Harry was just about to walk over and see what was going on when Professor McGonagall swooped into the scene.

"What is going on here?" She asked impatiently.

"Malfoy has Neville's Remembrall, Professor!" Shouted Weasley

"Just looking." Said Draco as he handed the clear glass ball back to Longbottom. As Longbottom took the ball into his hand, it filled with a scarlet red smoke-like substance.

"Oh no. I can't remember what I've forgotten!" Said Longbottom. Draco smirked as he turned away from the Gryffindor's but he didn't make any more comments in front of Professor McGonagall. She had a way of making students behave, without having to tell them to which was similar to Professor Snape.

Draco walked towards Harry with a big smile on his face.

"Why are you so happy?" Harry asked.

"Oh, it's nothing." Said Draco "I just can't wait to see that fat lump on a broom in our flying lesson tomorrow. We have it with the Gryffindorks, didn't you know?"

Harry had not known. He felt very uneasy though. Just seeing his best friend, flanked by the enormous Vince and Greg, facing up to Weasley and Longbottom like that reminded him of Dudley and his gang, who only ever started a fight if they had a size or number advantage. Which, to be honest, they had both most of the time. Harry had no feelings of loyalty towards the two Gryffindor boys but he did not like bullying. He made a conscious decision to say something to Draco if he saw him doing anything like that again. After all, Draco was an only child and may not know that how he was being was not okay.

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The Slytherin boys had all got on with their homework the previous night and, to Harry's surprise, they had all followed his lead in having an early night. Thankfully he was not disturbed by any dreams either so Harry had woken up feeling really refreshed. As he walked with Draco into the Great Hall for breakfast and looked up at the enchanted ceiling to see how the weather was looking, Harry noticed Weasley and Longbottom looking over at them. He smiled and raised a hand in greeting but the two boys glared back at him and Harry found his good mood slide away. These boys looked like they hated him and he realised, as he glanced sideways at Draco, that this could be due to his company more than anything. While he ate a single crumpet, trying not to look sad, his face must have deceived him because Draco nudged him with his elbow and said "Hey, what's wrong Harry? Nervous about the flying lesson?" he asked. Harry was not worried at all about his flying lesson. He had been looking forward to it more than anything else he would get to do at Hogwarts. Mr Malfoy had never let the boys fly on Draco's brooms over the Summer, as Harry had never flown before and he wasn't often around during the day to keep an eye on them.

"No, it's not that. It's just...those two boys from our year in Gryffindor, Weasley and Longbottom. I don't think they like me." Harry finished rather lamely.

"Of course they don't like you Harry!" Draco exclaimed. Harry looked at Draco in shock at this statement. Did he know something about Harry that Harry did not know himself? "You're a Slytherin and they are Gryffindorks. Everyone knows there's a rivalry between us."

"There is? Why?" Harry asked.

"Because the other houses don't really matter. Hufflepuff house is known for mediocrity in it's students. Sure, Ravenclaw's are all supposed to be clever but they won't come close to us in the House Cup by the end of the year. No, it will be between us and them." Draco jabbed a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the Gryffindor table. Harry looked over at them. Surely there was a difference between friendly, healthy rivalry and pure hate? There must be more to this. He resolved to speak to some students from the other houses so he could make his own mind up on the matter.

"Well, eat up Harry, remember our first flying lesson is with them and you need to do well. Can't show ourselves up in front of them. You know, it's a real shame they don't let first years in to the house teams. Father thinks I would make an excellent Seeker already." The final part of this sentence was spoken a lot louder than the first and seemed to be to the hall at large, rather than to Harry. Draco had given Harry nerves that he had not been feeling for today's flying lesson. What if he got on the broomstick and it just refused to take him into the air?

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Madam Hooch was a strict, intimidating lady. Her grey, flyaway, hair and yellow eyes drew the attention of all the students towards her. Meaning they listened intently when she spoke. They probably would have listened intently anyway, considering the dangerous task they were about to be asked to do. Some were more confident than others. Ron Weasley, who was stood to Harry's right, was to be heard talking about his exploits on a broomstick with his older brothers. Draco certainly had experience in flying and there were quite a few others from the wizarding families who had flown at some point already. Hermione Granger, stood to Harry's left, was frantically reciting everything she had read about flying a broomstick under her breath. She answered all of the questions correctly, which Madam Hooch had asked the group. Now that Harry was stood in the grounds, with a broomstick on the floor next to his right foot, he realised his nerves were gone. There was something about the broomstick that felt familiar to him.

"Now, when I say so, you will raise your right hand above the broomstick and say UP". Said Madam Hooch. "OK, now!" She ordered. All of the students did as they were told. Harry's broom flew straight into his hand at the first attempt, but it was one of the few that did. Once they had all managed to get their brooms into their hands Madam Hooch gave her next order. "Now I would like you to mount your brooms and hold tight. Stay in that position so I can check your form." They all did this and the silver haired instructor walked up and down the row of students, giving them tips on how to adjust their positions. Draco looked furious when she corrected his grip. He said it was the way he had always done it and Madam Hooch told him that he had been doing it wrong for years! Harry heard Ron Weasley snigger on his right hand side and looked at him. The two shared a small grin before Weasley's became a grimace and he looked away.

"OK class, I am going to blow my whistle twice. On the first whistle I would like you to kick off from the ground, hard, raise the broomstick so you rise up a few feet. On my second whistle I want you to gently lower the end of the broomstick to bring yourselves back to the ground. Understood?"

"Yes Madam Hooch" They chorused.

"OK, on the count of three. One, Two..." She did not make it to three. Neville Longbottom, determined not to be left on the ground, had kicked off at two. He clearly couldn't control what he was doing either, because he was rising high into the sky and started to spiral as he went up in a corkscrew motion. The rest of the group scattered, afraid that he would fall on them, but Harry stood his ground next to Madam Hooch. When Longbottom was about twenty feet in the air, he slipped sideways off his broomstick and started to plummet towards the ground.

" _ARRESTO MOMENTUM_!" The roar of the spell echoed throughout the grounds. Everyone looked in shock at Harry, who stood, wand pointed at Longbottom suspending him about ten feet in the air still. Madam Hooch, who had dived out of the way as Longbottom came off his broomstick, got to her feet in slight awe.

"POTTER!" she shouted. Harry did not expect this as she was only about a foot away as she shouted his name. He jumped and let go of his hold on the spell. Longbottom fell and landed awkwardly. Harry turned to see a bundle of robes crying behind him and Madam Hooch rushed over. "Oh dear, a broken arm. Come on Longbottom, I'll take you to Madam Pomfrey. The rest of you, stay on the ground. If I find out any one of you have been flying those broomsticks before I get back you will be out of Hogwarts before you can say Quidditch! Potter, I want a word with you when I get back too." She finished. Harry could not see how he could be in trouble. Longbottom had broken his arm from ten feet in the air. If Harry had not stopped him falling it could have been much worst from double that height!

"Look at this." Harry turned to see Draco pick something up from the ground. "It's Longbottom's Remembrall. Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he would have remembered to fall on his fat arse!" He taunted.

"Give it back Malfoy!" Shouted Weasley

"No, maybe I will leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find it, how about the roof?" and with that, Draco jumped on his broom and kicked off from the ground, soaring into the sky with little effort. He had not been lying, he could fly well. Weasley glared at him from the ground and made to mount his own broomstick. Hermione Granger, however, grabbed his arm to stop him from flying.

"Ron, no way, you will get yourself expelled. You heard Madam Hooch." She said reasonably.

"I don't care, I want to get Malfoy!" Ron retorted.

"I'll get it back from him." Harry stated. He did not wait for anyone to try and stop him. Before anyone had a chance he was already in the air and pulling level with Draco. He didn't know what he was worried about. This was the easiest thing he had done at Hogwarts so far. He knew how to manoeuvre this broom without being taught.

"Draco, I know you don't realise it, but you are being a bully. I grew up with my cousin, who was a bully and it's horrible to see. I know you're not really like him. Just come back down with that thing before Madam Hooch gets back and we get in trouble." Harry pleaded.

"Oh, am I being a bully?" Draco asked. "Well, as you put it that way Harry, I will go back down." He said. Harry felt relieved and made to lower the end of his broomstick to go back to the ground, when Draco said "As soon as I have finished hiding this Remembrall." With that, he pulled his hand back behind his head.

"DRACO, NO!" Harry shouted, but it was too late. Draco threw the clear orb as hard as he could towards the castle. Harry leant low on his broom and, somehow, he knew that he would be able to kick forwards with speed if he did this. He did not take his eye off the Remembrall and as it started to dip, he shot towards the ground. Harry stretched out one hand a few feet from the ground and caught it, before pulling the broomstick up hard and landing gently on the grass. The rest of the students ran towards him, the Slytherin's cheering along with a few of the Gryffindor's, at the impressive show of flying Harry had just displayed. Draco looked a mixture of shocked and impressed. Despite himself he grinned and held the Remembrall above his head to show that it was safe and still in tact before...

" _Accio Remembrall_ " the orb forcibly flew from Harry's hand. He turned around to watch it fly at speed and stop dead in the hand of Professor Snape. "Potter! Come with me." said Snape. Harry looked back at his classmates. Draco mouthed the word sorry to him but Harry was too angry to respond. Instead, he turned, dropped the broomstick on the floor where he stood and followed his head of house back to the castle.


End file.
